Dying to be Famous by Tanya Landman Read Free Book Online Page B

happened.”
    The story was all over the evening news. We watched it at my house and Mum’s reaction made me glad we hadn’t told Inspector Humphries about our near-death experience. She tutted and gasped her way through the item, making it hard for me and Graham to hear the details.
    The police were trying to find the person who had tampered with the chocolates, but they hadn’t got very far. It seemed that the stalker – dressed in the wizard outfit – had taken both the flowers and chocolates to the office of a local delivery firm. They’d paid in cash so they couldn’t be traced.
    “Didn’t you think it was odd to be given items by someone in costume?” demanded the reporter.
    “Fancy dress, I thought it was,” the receptionist shrugged. “It’s the party season; it’s not unusual this time of year. We get all sorts in here.”
    “Putting poison into chocolates!” my mum exclaimed. “What will that stalker try next?”
    “It’s very often the case that killers have their own characteristic way of despatching their victims,” Graham told her. “As long as poisoning remains his favourite method, Tiffany’s relatively safe. She’ll just have to watch what she eats.”
    “But what about you two?” Mum fixed me with an anxious frown. “I’m not sure you should carry on with this production. I’ll bet your mum feels the same, Graham. Maybe I should give her a ring and see what she says.”
    Graham and I exchanged swift, horrified glances.
    “We can’t possibly let the rest of the cast down,” Graham told her earnestly, surprising me with his streak of low cunning. “Not now. Our roles are pivotal – they couldn’t train anyone else up in time. It’s less than two weeks until opening night.”
    “We’ll be fine,” I said, backing him up for all I was worth. “The stalker’s after Tiffany, not a pair of kids. We’re not in any danger.”
    Mum looked from me to Graham, examining our faces. “OK,” she conceded reluctantly. “I suppose you can’t really leave everyone in the lurch.”
    She turned back to the television. The reporter was saying that the police were trawling through Tiffany’s fan mail to see if they could match anyone’s handwriting to the card on the chocolates.
    Mum shook her head and sighed. “That will take them forever. And meanwhile that stalker’s out there planning his next move. I just hope no one gets in his way. You can never tell how far a lunatic like that will go. Someone could get hurt.”
    “There are police all over the theatre, Mum. He’s not going to get within a millimetre of any of us,” I said cheerily. “Nothing bad’s going to happen, I promise.”
    But sadly my optimism was totally and utterly misplaced. The very next day my mum’s gloomy prophecy proved one hundred per cent accurate.

the tin man’s axe
    Graham and I arrived early for our next rehearsal. My mum was putting the finishing touches to a winter wonderland she’d created in the town centre and, as she was still fretting about the stalker, she insisted on giving us a lift. It was nice to be chauffeur-driven for a change, but it meant we got to the theatre ages before anyone else turned up. Everyone except Cynthia, and Maggie of course, who – as far as I could tell – never left the building.
    Maggie greeted us with a broad smile. “You’re keen,” she said. “Nice to see such enthusiasm in a pair of youngsters.”
    She buzzed us through the security lock but before we could disappear into the dark corridors she said, “Oh – could you find Cynthia and tell her that her son just phoned? He wants her to call him back.”
    “Yeah, OK.”
    “She’ll be up in Tiffany’s dressing room I should think. A dozen red roses just arrived so Cynthia took them up.”
    Suspicion gripped me and I turned to stare at Maggie. “More flowers?” I said sharply. “Who from?”
    Maggie gave a throaty chuckle. “Peregrine. That man’s gone completely daft over Tiffany if you ask